Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Sewage Barge (1)

Second Layer of the Sunken Ship Cavern. Three battered warships, each over fifty meters long, were chained together with dozens of pitch-black links. Eerie blue ghost flames flickered around their hulls, and several grotesque, bloated zombies stood menacingly at the prow.

“Is this the kind of enemy we're facing today? So ugly, and the stench is unbearable!” Zhao Tianhe frowned at the lake, where dark green ripples spread from the warships at the center. “Is it poison gas?”

Within the emerald ripples, bubbles burst one by one, releasing strange, toxic green vapors that gradually engulfed the entire lake.

“This must be their ‘domain’,” Geros muttered, his brow furrowed. “Troublesome. Miss Elai, I suppose even you aren’t immune?”

“No, I am,” Elai replied calmly, then perched atop her long spear, pulling Zhao Tianhe up as they soared into the air.

Artoria transformed instantly into the King of Archers, stepping across the lake’s surface and sniping at the horde of zombies on the ships. Though the poisonous gas intensified her blood loss, Artoria’s innate ability allowed her to regenerate, rendering the injury negligible.

Holy bullets struck the zombies, erupting in plumes of black smoke and fire. The effect was excellent—though the stench only worsened.

“Don’t be careless! The poison builds up inside you!” Zhao Tianhe called out to Artoria, casting a weak purification spell her way. It cleansed some toxins and low-level curse residue from her body.

“Mind your own safety. Artoria is strong; holy bullets purify her as she uses them,” Geros said.

“I know, but I wanted to see if I could land a critical hit.” Zhao Tianhe shook his head in resignation, beginning to cast protective spells on himself.

After days of contemplation, Zhao Tianhe had devised his core defensive spell: the Force Field Barrier, an arcane protection. This first-level spell lasted an hour and could only withstand the punches or clubs of ordinary people; swords and axes could pierce it easily. At its lowest mana cost, even an average person could break it with a kick. It was the weakest of protections, nearly useless even when stacked.

But for Zhao Tianhe, things were different. By continually casting the lowest-cost version of Force Field Barrier, he had a chance of triggering higher-tier arcane protections. Arcane defenses were versatile—they guarded against blades, bullets, lightning, even magma—though their targeted effects weren’t exceptional. Still, at advanced spell levels, even the worst had value.

Soon, over a dozen Force Field Barriers layered upon Zhao Tianhe, and two success notifications appeared on his personal interface.

“Triggered Arcane Intuition: Force Field Barrier upgraded to Second-Level Spell—Arrow Ward (reduces the speed of any projectiles within twenty meters for one hour).”

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“Triggered Arcane Intuition: Force Field Barrier upgraded to Third-Level Spell—Counter Shield (creates an absolute defensive layer that can rebound one physical attack, lasting thirty minutes, cannot be stacked).”

“Alright, that’s the basics. Let’s add something more specific.” Zhao Tianhe cast a low-tier blessing on himself, using only three mana points.

It was a light-based protection spell, boosting resistance to curses and adding a weak light shield that mitigated dark and psychic damage for an hour, stackable. After casting it ten times, his mana was running low, but luck favored him this time—a fourth-level light protection emerged.

Holy Armor (greatly increases all resistance and basic defense, and additionally boosts curse resistance, lasts one hour, cannot be stacked).

Due to the unique “magic idiot” trait of Earthlings, Zhao Tianhe’s mana was exceptionally low. He managed to enchant Elai with a light buff as well, though it didn’t critically succeed.

“I’ll handle it again this time. You switched gear without even consulting me!” Geros complained. “Why not discuss it first?”

“Uh, I got carried away…” Zhao Tianhe glanced at Elai, his eyes evasive. ‘If I’d asked you, it wouldn’t have happened.’

“You idiot…” Geros was frustrated. He understood Zhao Tianhe’s personality well—he didn’t dislike him, but knew he needed to exercise restraint or risk serious trouble.

“No need to berate him,” Elai said quietly. “I will protect him.”

‘I am no longer the capricious, brooding goddess of the Underworld. There’s no need to dwell on the past—it means nothing now…’ With resolute focus, Elai grabbed Zhao Tianhe’s collar and landed on the deck, facing the oncoming zombies. Her blazing spear whirled and smashed the first two creatures to pieces!

“Now, I am the Goddess of Protection—Ereshkigal!”

Suddenly, a ghost erupted from the deck, lunging at Zhao Tianhe!

Yet in the next instant, endless darkness enveloped it; a gaping maw devoured the specter whole.

A spirit beast resembling a giant whale, about three meters long and pitch black, appeared behind Zhao Tianhe, snatching the ghost and then vanishing into the deck.

The whale spirit dove into the haunted ship, circling Zhao Tianhe with only its dark back visible above deck.

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This was Elai’s skill: “Summon Garuda Spirit.” The whale-shaped Garuda Spirit exuded a palpable sense of security.

Three smaller Garuda Spirits, shaped like birds, hovered around Elai as well.

Though her summoning limit was finite, Elai pushed the technique to its maximum. The large Garuda Spirit, with high attack and defense, guarded Zhao Tianhe; the three smaller ones, swift and capable of self-destruction, eliminated troublesome targets quickly.

Against this ensemble of undead, Elai’s mana was virtually inexhaustible.

‘Impressive, but you can’t always be by his side…’ Geros had no doubts about Elai and Artoria’s strength—they were capable fighters, even in a B-rank dungeon. But summoned creatures, for all their power, could never be as reliable as true strength.

Boom!

A thunderous crash echoed from afar—Artoria, in her Sacred Sword form, unleashed the Wind King Hammer, smashing open the hold of one warship.

A mass of strange, dark-green matter wriggled atop the water, occasionally sprouting an eye or a mouth.

The eyes fired toxic rays, and the mouths spewed gobs of venom.

“That’s the boss. The King of Archers’ agility is truly remarkable—she found the boss’s location,” Geros said in awe.

“Hmm… That’s not the boss. Or rather, there’s more than one boss,” Zhao Tianhe, the specialist, revealed a startling truth.

“There’s something in the hold of all three ships. Looks like we hit the jackpot again.”

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